The field of this invention is excavating implements and the like.
The need for efficient, reliable ditching or trenching implements has provided the impetus for many inventions. Known digging implements include the tree digging apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 275,575 and 1,840,126. These tree digging devices provided a structure by which a blade purportedly cut through the soil to loosen it for the removal of trees. However, these devices did not include structure for removing the soil through which the blades cut and, therefore, were not well suited for typical trenching operations. Other known digging apparatus include the devices described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,394,940; 2,651,859; 3,319,367; and 3,511,394. These latter devices did provide structure by which soil could be removed from the trench. They and other similar devices included one or more scoops which were filled with soil and then removed from the trench so that the soil in the scoops could be deposited elsewhere. The necessity of removing the scoop from the ditch each time it was filled with soil necessarily made such apparatus somewhat inefficient because there was a substantial amount of time spent emptying the scoop rather than cutting the trench. In some instances, it was even necessary to reposition or otherwise maneuver the vehicle pulling the ditching implement in order to empty the scoop. This movement of the vehicle made the apparatus even less efficient in ditching operations. Other ditching apparatus attempted to eliminate the inefficiency of having to maneuver the pulling vehicle by providing conveyors on which the soil in the scoop could be emptied without moving the vehicle. However, these latter devices still required that the scoop be removed from the ditch in order to be emptied. A few more recent devices attempted to further reduce the inefficiency of ditching implements by providing a plurality of scoops carried on an endless chain or belt with the scoops being emptied onto conveyors which carried the soil to the side of the trench. However, even these more recent devices did not eliminate the inherent inefficiency of inserting and removing individual scoops into and out of the trenches during the ditching operations. Further, the extra structure provided was relatively complex and increased the cost of the machinery as well as requiring an expenditure for skilled labor to operate them. As a result, there still exists a substantial need for an efficient, reliable ditching or trenching apparatus which is low in cost and relatively simple to use.